Mark Cuban defends Harris' flip-flopping positions: 'I've changed a lot of my positions'
Vice President Kamala Harris has moderated her views on issues like the border
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Shark Tank" host and campaign surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris, Mark Cuban, appeared to shrug off the Democratic nominee changing several positions between her first and second run for president.
"What did you think of Harris when she was running for president the first time around in 2019?" ABC host Jon Karl asked Cuban Sunday morning on "This Week."
"I wasn’t paying attention," Cuban answered.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"You weren’t paying attention?" Karl followed. "You know the position she took. She was Medicare for All, Green New Deal—"
Harris surrogate Mark Cuban was asked about Vice President Harris' changing policy positions on ABC Sunday. (ABC screenshot)
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"But she was representing the state of California," Cuban remarked. "The People’s Republic of California, right? When you have far-left state, you know, you’re going to do what those — your citizens want. When you’re representing the United States of America, it’s a much broader and—"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"She took those positions when she was starting to run for president the first time," Karl pointed out.
"I get that, but here’s where we are now. That was not a very long-lived run, and I think she learned the hard way that certain things —" Cuban responded.
Karl asked, "Do you think she believed that, or was she doing it to run?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think she believed it for sure, but she has to speak for herself on those things. What I like about her is she continuously says she’s open-minded, and she’s proved it," Cuban said.
Businessman and television personality Mark Cuban addresses a rally for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris Oct. 17, 2024, in La Crosse, Wisconsin. (Photo by Andy Manis/Getty Images)
He added, "I’ve changed a lot of my positions in the last five years. Donald Trump has changed his. I think a lot of reasonable people have changed theirs, and to, you know, to say this was your position for Medicare for All, this was your position on whatever it may be, and to be shocked that somebody changed their mind, it’s a bigger shock that someone’s shocked."
Cuban acknowledged Harris has had difficulty in explaining her positions and why she has changed her mind on some issues like the border.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There’s two elements there. She’s only been running for 13 weeks, and when she started to run, when she replaced Joe Biden, she had a deficit in awareness, you know. Even Donald Trump would say, ‘I don’t even know who Harris is. Do you guys know who Harris is?’ And she had negative favorables, and so she had to spend, what is it, the last 13 weeks, just letting people get to know her and getting to see she is vibrant, she is smart, she is open-minded," Cuban said.
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He continued, "When you are trying to win that battle, you’re not going to answer all the specifications of every, you know, have the opportunity to answer all the specifics, and the proof is in the pudding. She went from, as I said, negatives and, you know, being right where Joe Biden is and in 13 weeks there in a dead heat, and it’s a toss-up."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cuban made similar comments when he appeared on "The Brian Kilmeade Show" Friday.
Cuban seemed to agree Harris could do a better job of explaining why she has changed positions. (AP/Matt Rourke)
"But when you’re representing the People’s Republic of California, that’s a whole different job than being the President of the United States and representing all Americans. And she’s definitely evolved in her positions," Cuban said.